Had a hire car for over a week. it worked out really inexpensive, £16 a day. but it’s very important not to get any marks on it, the bodywork, but not just the body; the hub caps, the windows etc. well i did get a bit concerned as i skuffed the wheel trim against a kerb, only slightly mind. what’s the best solution? disguise the evil marks, splash home made mud all over it. It hasn’t been raining. but i can say i been somewhere where it has…

The weather has been very good for the last couple of weeks. spring has definitely started. the sun is bright. the buds are green. Have been on my rowing machine in the garden. but also been smoking roll ups…bad. Went up to see billy in Bircotes, did a gig in barton on humber, billy came with me and we called at Huw’s , my cousin. binged on cake, which i haven’t eaten in weeks. Not only had amand, huw’s missus made drizzle cake, but 15 mins away, there was very nice cake in teh green room of the Barton gig, the Ropery, the Rope hall…the gig went great.

then drove back to swansea for a Yes Cymru gig on the Saturday, that was great, but i have mentioned already. Took teh car back on tuesday – they never said nothing. But the man who works there is a really nice guy, might come to my Mumbles gig in a week. Oh i also had a slight accident in the car : what happened was – shut up Jethro – i drove up to see anita on my old road, Heol Las…she’s an old childhood friend, still living in the same house. But when i drove down the road a bit i did something silly. i want up a dirt track to try get more mud on the car. as i reversed back out the left front wheel went over the edge and was suspended, not touching ground. The car was stuck, the front was compressed onto teh grassy slope. i was pissed off, and anxious, i called eleri to ask her to find the emergency number for Enterprise. But kept trying the reverse and forward gear, the car just would not budge. so then i thought, shit there’s got to be a way of getting out of here. luckily i was not blocking the road. so i got out and ran back up to anita’s house. she cam down to give me some moral support, and fairplay she offered to push the front of the car as i revved the throttle. nothing doing. So then i thought well as the wheel is a foot off the tarmac of the road all i need to do is fill that gap with…an object. Wood ? Stone? Anita let me grab a couple of rocks from her front wall. I wedged them under the tyre. nothing happened except the stones were flicked away by the spinning wheel. but if at first you don’t succeed….

Eventually, after having rammed the boulders in as tight as possible, i got the car moving, But although i could feel her reversing down the slope my next worry was that the front of the car, the bit under the front grill, would be damaged. after all these modern cars are so fragile, and the pressure of the ground on it had been significant. munificant. magnificent.

But lo and behold there was no damage. so i carried the rocks back, and was filled with a great relief.